2019 Masters Tournament (Dane- Official Prediction)
The '''2019 Masters Tournament '''was the 83rd edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships in 2019. It was held from April 11-14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The tournament culminated with a Monday finish, eventually seeing Aussie Marc Leishman prevail by one stroke over Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood. Par 3 Contest Matt Wallace won the Par Three Contest at -5 (22). Round Summaries First Round The first round, played on April 11th, featured very nice conditions, paving the way for some lower scores on the course. Despite this, scoring struggled as only a handful of rounds managed to break 70 on the day. Notably, Corey Conners, the winner of the Valero Texas Open the previous week, came out hot with a 68. He shared a tie for the lead with Charley Hoffman, a San Diegan with typical early round leads, also shooting a four under 68. In a leaderboard devoid of big names, Phil Mickelson stood out, quietly compiling a three under 69 to stroll into 3rd. He was in a tie with Tony Finau, a top 10 finisher from last year, and Jon Rahm, a young Spaniard. Defending champion Patrick Reed kept himself in it with a two under 70 to open, a tie for 6th. Tiger Woods shot an even par 72 to sit within the top 20. Second Round The second round was played on Friday, April 12th. Light rain early in the morning hours softened up the course, providing leeway for good scores to get put up. The low round of the day came from Rory McIlroy, who shot a six under 66 to reach 3rd place at five under. In the lead, two strokes ahead of McIlroy, sat Charley Hoffman and Jon Rahm, each at seven under par and having solid rounds in the high 60's for the day. First round co-leader Corey Conners shot a 72 to fall to a tie for 4th place going into the weekend. Defending Champ Patrick Reed fell back to even par, but lived to see the Weekend. As did Tiger Woods, who sat at +1 heading into the weekend. Third Round The third round was played on Saturday, April 13th. Rain during the overnight hours on Friday created extremely favorable scoring conditions, creating a shootout on the course. The ultimate winner of this was Jon Rahm, in his 3rd Masters, who skyrockets to a six under 66, placing him at -13 for the tournament. This gives him a three stroke lead over American Kevin Kisner, who also shot a 66 to reach ten under. Charles Howell III and Matt Kuchar both racked up seven under 65's to reach a tie for 3rd. Dustin Johnson, the world #2, also injected himself into the running through tying a Masters record, 8 under 64, to reach -7 and enter the top 10. Final Round The final round was played on Sunday and Monday, April 14th and 15th. Several hours into the day, the golf was canceled for the remainder of Sunday due to strong thunderstorms. The round picked up on Monday and finished in cooler conditions favorable to scoring. Upon the round's continuation on Monday, scoring was found to be favorable, and defending champion Adam Scott showed this, posting a 64 to reach -11 and 2nd place at the time. The leader, Jon Rahm, lasted much of the front nine in the lead, with Scott in a distant second and in the clubhouse, taking a 5-stroke lead at one point. Rahm, however, scored double on 11 after flying too far left on his approach to the green, and catapulted downward from there. He finished with a three over 75 to finish at -10 and tied for 6th. Meanwhile, Marc Leishman, a 35 year old Aussie ranked 20th in the world, was rising up the leaderboard, surging to -11 with a birdie on 11. Leishman hit a stunning, forty foot eagle putt on the 13th to reach -13 and take the lead, and did not give it up from there. Leishman led in the clubhouse by one over Tommy Fleetwood at -14 as Hideki Matsuyama, also at -13 with Fleetwood, came down the 18th. He had a birdie putt to tie Leishman at -14 and send it to a playoff, albeit missing just left and handing Leishman his first green jacket. Amongst other notables, Jordan Spieth catapulted to the top 10 after just barely making the weekend, shooting a 64. Also emerging from the dust was Patrick Cantlay, finishing a career best 4th in a major with his final round 67, and Rickie Fowler, who recovered from a bad first two days to reach a tie for 10th at -9. Tiger Woods finished the tournament at -7 in a tie for 21st.